Phl stocks continue climb on strong Wall St

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine stocks climbed for the second straight day on the back of another run-up in Wall Street, but not enough to propel the main index past the 6,000 resistance.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.40 percent or 24.12 points to 5,982.24, hitting an intraday high of 5,999.58. The broader all shares index rose 0.38 percent or 13.83 points to 3,649.40.

“The market extended yesterday’s gains as investors showed some signs of optimism as US stocks recovered from a prior session’s slump,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

“The PSEi once more narrowed the distance from the near-term, but apparently strong 6,000-resistance,” Calaycay said.

Most counters ended in positive territory, led by industrial firms that jumped one percent or 89.07 points to 9,025.65.

But mining and oil bucked the trend as it fell 0.87 percent or 114.18 points to 13,057.87 largely due to profit taking, Calaycay said.

Turnover value eased anew to P5.54 billion from P5.79 billion on Wednesday. Gainers outpaced decliners, 93 to 61, while 45 stocks did not change.

“Valuations climbed once more to the 18x level and we can expect the argument to creep back into investors’ consciousness in the coming days,” Calaycay said.